Fence



(No Model.)

0. E. CHURCHILL & 0. W. BENNETT.

FENCE.

PatentedMay 8,1894

UNITED STATES ATENT rica.

FENCE.v

srncmren'rron forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,420, dated m 8,1894.

Application filed November 6, 1893- SerlaI No. 490,198- (No model.) I vTo all whom it. may concern.

a fence, the greater portion of which shall be composed of wire, whichfence shall be so constructed as to admit'of its being readily transported, substantially as a whole (or inconvenient sections) from oneplace to another and set up therein, without the necessity of taking thesame entirely apart to be put together again piece by pieceaftertransportation, as new practiced, andwhich fence, after having beenproperly assembled, set up and adjusted in the place desired shall be asstrong and durable as fences of this class of common construction.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of our fence properly assembledand setup and shows the several styles'of posts employed in itsconstruction with the wire properly strung thereon and secured thereto.Fig. 2 is a central sectional view of what we term a postsled and showsthe manner. in which a post is supported thereon. view of one of saidsleds. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of a post to which thewires are fastened after being stretched and illus trates the manner inwhich'we preferably secure said wires thereto. of a metal thimbleusually placed in the post illustrated in Fig. 4, in which thimble theWire is secured and held from slipping. Fig. 6 is a view, partly insection, of what we term our anchor post and Fig. 7 illustratesprincipally the means we preferably employ for coupling together theadjacent ends of the horizontal wires, hereinafter fullydescribed.

Referring to the drawings, the letter a indicates our anchor post, b apost the upper portion of which is similar tothat of post a,

' said post I) being supported as hereinafter described and'c indicatesthe style of post we usually employ at all corners and angles and Fig. 3is a plan or top Fig. 5 is an end view d a larger post, one or more ofwhich are employed (as the case may demand) in putting up a fence of ourimproved form.

of metaland for lightness may be hollow whilethe post (Z is generallywood although above being vmentioned simply, as being the most suitable.\V e have already referred to the fact that post I) is peculiarlysupported and we will now explain more fully the construction of suchsupport. Supports of sled form are provided made of metal or wood(preferably metal) the same consisting of two parallel runnerse the endsof which are turned up substantially in sled form and an eye 6' punchedtherein, the sh ape of said runners beingclearly seen in Figs. 2 and 3.Supported upon .or between the runners e and extending in a direction atright angles to the general direction of a hole in the center thereof toreceive'the lower ners e and located directly over the plate f is abrace .g which brace is substantially semicircular in form and-has ahole in its highest portion through which the post I) enters, said holebeing in direct vertical alignment with the hole above referred to inplate f. Assuming that a sled support as above described is constructed,it can be readily seen that, should a post '1) be inserted through theholes in brace g and plate f and properly secured against verticaldisplacement, said sled support willserve to hold said post-in anupright position. To further insure said post against verticaldisplacement an elongated slot is cut in the same, substantiallyceincident with brace g. The lower end of post I) is threaded to receivea nut 7L. A hook his provided which fastens over the brace g, the shankof said hook being sul-llciently long to extend through the slot inpostb and receive a nut on the threaded 'end thereof (see Fig. 2.).

\Vhen it is desired to assemble a pest and sledof the above constructionthe shank of the lower (threaded end) of said post passed through thehole in brace g and from thence through the hole in cross plate fdirectly beneatht Post I) is adjusted vertically in said The posts a-band c are preferably made said runners is a cross piece, or plate, fhaving any materials desired may be employed, the

end of the post I). Supported by "said runhook it is inserted in theslot in post b and I holes, to fix the line of fencing at the properheight, and is then firmly clamped to the sled by screwing home the nuth and also the nut of hook h.

Posts a are designed to be driven into the ground and they are thereforeprovided with points a or may simply be sharpened. Each post a is alsoformed withan enlargement a, formed ,s'ubsiantially as an inverted basinwhich, when the post is driven into the ground enters sufficiently toform-a=snbstantial support and prevent the post frombeing tooeasily'withdrawn from the ground.

When driving the post home the dirt may be removed, if necessary, to adepth sufiicient to receive the enlargement of and then returned toplace and tamped down on top of said enlargement. .The corner posts 0are similar in appearance to the anchor ,posta, they having pointed orsharpened ends formed with or without the basin shaped piece a To allowthe wire to draw freely around these corner posts 0', whom tighteningsaid wire,

they are provided with as many grooved pulleys c as there are wires tobe supported, a

pin 0 being inserted in said post beneath each of the pulleys to holdsaid pulleys in the desired position and prevent any tendency to slipdownward on the post.

4 Each of the posts ab and cris-provided with means for' supporting thehorizontally extending wires 8 of the fence, which means ofsupportcensistsof severalpairs of small projections s cast on, orsecured to, each post and equaling in number the number of wires it isdesired to support. The projections of each pair are locatedsufficiently far apart to permit of the. insertion of a wire s betweenthem and each pair of'projections is provided with vertical holes inalignment with 'each other. After the wire has been inserted between theproje'ctions, a'bolt or pin m is dropped into the holes thus efiectuallysecuring said wire to the post, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 7. y

We locate at each end of our fence, or at suitable intervals throughoutits length, a large post d (preferably wood) from whichv post thehorizontal wires are stretched and to which the ends of such'wires aresecured after having been stretched. A number of horizontal holes 72 aredrilled' in post 0. equal in number to the number of wireswhich are tobe secured. These holes 0?. are of suitable size to receive ashouldered'th'imble o. The thimble o is driven into the post d upto'its. shoulder from the side opposite to that ,from which comes thestrain or pull of the wire.

The wire is then passed throughthirnble 0 and it will be seen byreference to Fig. 5 that a small groove 0' isgcut in the lower portionof said thimble hole in which groove the wire. lies. After beingstretched tightly, a wedge or key 1) is introduced from the shoulder endof the thi mble and driven .into the'sam'e, thus; forcing the wire downinto the groove .0 and it will be readily understood by reference toFig. 4 that .the greater-the pull or strain ot' said wire (the strainbeingin the direction of the arrow) the more tightly will it be wedgedin the thimble but any tendency of the thimble to be drawn throughitshole is prevented by its enlarged or shouldered end. Should, I

the post (1 be of metal instead-of wood, the thimbl-e 0 will not berequiredit being sim-; ply necessary to provide a hole therein with agroove in its lower portion substantially like the hoie through thethimble 0.

Having now described the various posts used in the construction of ourfence we will.

now proceed to describe the wire portion of the same; The horizontalwiress (hereshown' as five in number) are first stretched upon theposts'a- -b-c and this shown. These hori zontal wires-support verticalwires 16 strong thereon, said vertical wires bei'ng'se'cured to the topand bottom horizontal wires by being twisted around the same, and anumber 0t loopsare formed at suitableintervalsbe tween said top andbottom-wires through which loops the intervening horizontal wire$.

pass (see Fig. 1) and are thus in a measure supported. 'It will be seenthat, when the horizontal and vertical wires arethus connected together,a-complete net 'workof wire .is formed. '."Separable joints orconnections may be provided at stated distances apartas illustrated inFig. 7. The a djacent ends of the horizontal wires which itiis desiredto connect may be'bentb'ack andtwisted upon Ioo themselves and aloopthus formed. in the end o'f each wire. A double hook or link-p' isthen introduced, as shown in Fig. 7 audit will be seen by-reference tosaid figure that when said link is inserted the meeting ends of thehorizontal wires are securely connected. Having now fully explained theseveral elementscomposing our fence we will assume that it isdesiredtosetup the same.

The posts ab'c and dare first placed in the desired positions, the postsc provided with pulleys 0' being used at all corners and the posts(1-1-1) being preferably set as shown in Fig. 1. Theposts b are adjustedas above, explained to br ng the projections s to a com mon height. Thenetwork of wires consist: ing of the horizontal wires .9 and thevertical wires t are next placed in position, one,end

of each horizontal wireibein'gsecure'lyfastened to onset the posts d-andthe free' end of each wit-s atter having-boom stretched, .being fastenedby means of the wedges p to the post, 01. Each horizontal wire; isintro-i duced between the projections s'on posts a and 12 and securedtherein by 'theho'lts m as described and each wirevis alsoiplaced' onits individual pulley on post c and around which itfreely renders whenbeing stretched] The" positionthef same riding on its sleds, the postrunners e of'the sleds are connected by wires" s secured to posts band aand'd in thesame v I "o manner as thehorizontalfence wir s: .When.

b during such operation serving to support the entirefence thusobviating the necessity of taking the entire fence apart when itisdesired to remove the same a reasonable dis tance only. When; thedesired location is reached, posts a'-. -'c and-d; which have pre'yiously been pulled up, are once more set-in the desired positions andthe horizontal wires stretched and secured thereto as before, the wholeoperation being quickly and readily. performed. .1 I

-Our fence, as awhole, may be cheaply produced, is very Strong andlight, is especially valuable for its ease of portability and verysimple in its construction. Having described our invention, we claimi 1.In combination with fixed posts, portable posts havingsupports of sledform asset forth,

' and horizontal wires connecting said posts;

the portable posts being adjustably mounted upon their supports, as andfor the purpose specified. e p v 2, In combination with fixed posts a,and

end posts 01, intervening portable posts mounted upon supports of sledform, and wires con-' necting said posts; the end posts'being providedwith thimbles and binding'keys. substantiallyas specified, j I

' 3. Apostforaportable fence, mounted upon runners of sled form havingcross-bars or ;--braces through which said post passes, said .posthaving a'vertically-adjustable engagement with said braces,substantially as described. I v

4 A post, having an opening, in'combination with a support therefor, anupwardly-extending brace, engaged by saidpost, and a hook, havingitsshank extending'through said opening in-the' post and engaged by aclamping nut and its head engaging said brace,.substantia1ly as shownand described.

5. A post, having an elongated opening, in

combination with asupport therefor, said post havingavertically-adjustable engagement with said support, and a hook, havingits shank extending through said opening in the post, and engaged by aclamping'nut, and its head engaging said brace, substautiallyas shownand described.

6. A post for a portable fence, having a threaded lower end, incombination with sup- "Witnesses:

LEWIS CRANDALL,

.J. M. WRIGHT.

